AT & T to hang up on pay phones

[douglas9]

Source: L.A. Times

December 4, 2007

AT&T Inc. is getting out of the business that gave Agent 86 a cunning way to enter CONTROL headquarters in "Get Smart."

The nation's largest phone company said Monday that it would stop owning and operating public pay phones by the end of next year. But that doesn't necessarily mean Superman will have to find a new changing room.

San Antonio-based AT&T -- which operates 65,000 pay phones around the country, including 21,000 in California -- will put them up for sale. Independent operators already own more than half of the estimated 1 million such devices in the U.S. and probably will bid on those being put on the block by AT&T.

Even in the age of mobile handsets and BlackBerrys, people still drop quarters into public phones. About 5% of all U.S. households, and 8% of those with annual incomes under $20,000, have access to neither wireless nor land-line phones.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-payphones4dec04,1,1966462,print.story?coll=la-headlines-technology&ctrack=2&cset=true

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Guess if you are poor you will need to go to jail to use a phone

[melm00se]

1. it's not like AT&T

is disconnecting them and sending the payphones to the scrap metal dealer. They are selling them off, like any other asset. As long as they are profitable, they will continue to be in place.

I have noticed over the years fewer and fewer payphones in public places which is understandable with penetration of wireless phones.

[onehandle]

5. They started a campaign to eliminate pay phones in the 1980s.

To create a need for cell phones. I know people from the old days who have told me this.

[snooper2]

7. mkkkaay

Just like the when they stopped making black and white tv in exchange for color...

[cyclezealot]

13. I will not conform. Not conform.

I hATE CELL phones. Hate em. They may have their place but we hate. Have one and don't even bother to recharge them. Sick of seeing them on everyone's ear too. Constant communication, makes us sick. A little escapism is good for one's soul. And notice how the bootleg pay phones are so poorly maintained. Lousy service and try to get your money back when they don't work. But, still no cell phones in this family. Family cell phone plans, another capitalist plot to hook you into another fleecing.

[yellowcanine]

19. Think pre-paid cell phones. No monthly bills. You turn the phone off when you are not using it to

avoid getting unwanted calls. Put a message on there to the effect of "I will not call you back unless I recognize your number. If you want to leave me a message please call my home phone." (but don't leave the number)

[Odin2005]

29. My aren't we judgmental today.

I have a cell phone and if I don't want to be bothered when I'm out of the house I just turn off the damn cell phone. And if you don't like people talking on their cell phones that is too frigging bad, the world doesn't revolve around your pet peeves.

[northzax]

47. wait, phones have on-off buttons?

NO WAY! but...but...they are EVIL! and so are the 2 billion people in the world who use them! EVIL.

[superconnected]

30. Hi, my family is very mobile through my city.

My cell with the family plan is far cheaper than my land line ever was($60 per month for both me and my mom and I pay the bill). I'm so glad I got my home phone disconnected. I'm so glad my mom can call me anytime, anywhere and I can call her. My brother and sister also have cells and we have instant access to each other which we like.

If you don't want to stay in contact anytime, then don't have one or turn it off. But for many of us, cell phones are a great thing. I hate to be without one. I also hate talking on the phone, but I do like to get the 1 minute calls from family when they want to reach me.

I'm surprised people have landlines still. Ouch those friggen bills.

[cyclezealot]

36. one land line and a phone card

for long distance. our phone bill is about half that.

[llmart]

39. Me too.

A land line and a long distance card. The long distance calling card lasts forever.

[melm00se]

17. wireless phones

offer the consumer far more convenience than a fixed pay phone and that is a good thing. Sticking with old outdated technology is kind of like demanding that there be coopers, telegraph and elevator operators available in every city at every location.

Change, while not always immediately positive, is in the long run a very good thing.

(personally I hate the damn things - i have one for business only and I have an unactivated one, fully charged, on my motorcycle in case of emergency, I can dial 911 for help, at no charge.)

[onehandle]

24. I agree, but poor people are hit, and what if you need a phone and your cell is dead?

There should be phones everywhere for emergencies. They could tap into the cell system, rather than be wired, in most places.

[melm00se]

28. there are...

there are 256 million cell phones in use and 300 million people and equal numbers of cell phones and people is not far off (estimated at 2013) so there are phones just about everywhere, just not old style pay phones.

[superconnected]

31. That's what I was thinking too. This affects the poor.

Some can't afford cell phones, even phone card phones. $20 was a lot to me when I was a teen and struggling in my early 20's.

[wuushew]

44. The cellular telephone is the most inefficient form of voice communication ever

You have to put up millions of ugly towers and your total volume of calls is severely limited to how many times you can multiplex a given radio frequency. Add to that the fact that cell phones have a short life span and end up toxicly polluting some poor third world country. Are they such a great thing?

Also they are eating up the finite supply of battery materials which should be used in transitioning off oil in the transportation sector.

[northzax]

48. actually, it is much more efficient than landlines

which is why countries that didn't spend a lot of money on land line development are skipping right over to wireless. no one tried to build a wired network in Baghdad, for instance, it's all wireless now.

[slampoet]

22. I remeber the "We are eliminating Pay Phones to prevent drug dealers" campaign in the late 80's

[Deja Q]

2. Meanwhile, let's lambaste people for "wanting" a cell phone for convenience!

Gee, with the quantity of pay phones dwindling over the years, not to mention the increased costs in using them, cell phones are more a necessity than a desire*.

Okay, there are ones that are more "excess" than "proper", but that's another issue.

[Ian David]

4. Why not just give people free cellphones with a coin slot in them?

And then, when it's full (or too heavy) you bring it to the cell phone store to cash-out.

[cyclezealot]

16. In Europe they compromise

You have pay phones, but pretty much you need a phone card to make them work. Except in places like Airports. There they might accept coins.

[cyclezealot]

15. why not .

I get sick of hearing about Aunt Sophie's illness' while being forced to hear one's family history when standing in a check out line. They should supply us with ear plugs at our local grocery store.

[mcscajun]

3. Some of those independent operators charge a hefty price for a call.

I haven't made a pay phone call in years, but those "other" operators don't maintain so well, either.

Last I looked, NYNEX still operated quite a lot of the pay phone here in the Northeast, but indies are around too. Got to be careful.

[On the Road]

21. Who Knows? Verizon Might Sell Off the NY Payphones

although NYC is probably the best market in the country.

I did an analysis in the 80s of spinning off the payphones in NYNEX/Bell Atlantic. It's not a simple proposition -- in addition to the phones themselves, there are operator centers, installation and repair centers, special business offices, and coin collection truck fleets.

Coin phones are unfortunately disappearing. But they're being replaced by cheap prepaid cellular.

[gauguin57]

6. Pay phones are still needed for those times when you don't want someone knowing your phone number.

Everyone has caller ID... if you need to call someone and don't want your phone number recorded, the pay phone is your best friend.

[SyntaxError]

11. great for stalkers? :P

[Ignis]

27. ...Or whistleblowers.

:eyes:

[SyntaxError]

41. like PE coaches?

[Ignis]

43. Yes, that's exactly what I mean.

What else would we be talking about on a progressive, political message board?

:eyes:

[SyntaxError]

45. ....

bad day, aye?

[Ignis]

50. The US is systematically stripping whistleblower protection.

And it seems that every little thing is being done to ensure that anonymity will not be available for those who need it most, given the lack of legal protection.

My sympathy for those trying to do the right thing in this climate is currently outweighing my sense of humor on the subject. Sorry.

[tammywammy]

34. *67 will block the number from being shown

works on cell phones too

[SyntaxError]

42. but it still leave records that can eventually be traced back...

I would assume if you're doing something serious, then there may be powerful people who might be able to obtain those...

[kskiska]

8. I loved those old phone booths

They were private, had a seat, a fan, and a door, and the call only cost a nickel, or a dime, depending on how old you are.

[Dulcinea]

52. I miss them too.

Now I have to put up with loud, obnoxious jerks discussing every detail of their private lives on cell phones practically everywhere I go. Ugh! I hate the damn things & only use mine when absolutely necessary.

[Joanne98]

9. Nope! The jail phones are run by a company in Canada...

The only way imates can call out is to have their loved ones buy pre-approved phone time at 3.00 a minute. You can't pay from the inside. It's an outrage!

[dysfunctional press]

23. in prison, maybe- but not in the regular lock-ups.

in chicago, when you are arrested you get to make your phone call from a regular pay-phone.

[douglas9]

26. Dated link...but still applicable

http://www.pulp.tc/html/do_phone_rates_gouge_prisoners.html

[Joanne98]

10. PS All the pay phones should be nationalized!

[michreject]

20. Please explain......nt

[tammywammy]

35. ???

[SyntaxError]

12. How often are payphones used these days?

I mean, with the cheapness of cell phones, and all... Last time I used a pay phone was back in 2000, but that only because I lost my cell phone... :P


I hope this won't mean the end of them though, because they are needed in cases of emergency...

[CountAllVotes]

14. they better NOT get rid of them!

I do not have a cellphone and I do not WANT a cell phone. I have recently used pay phones on a trip I was on.

[SyntaxError]

18. resistance is futile.

[Tejas]

25. in Houston, many are commonly vandalized beyond repair

consider yourself lucky to find one that even has a handset still attached.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

32. Remember the Brady Bunch episode where they put in a pay phone

in the family room?

[llmart]

40. To answer your question.....

I work in a library and ours is used all the time. Not everyone can afford a cell phone or wants one.

[CountAllVotes]

46. thank you!!!

:loveya: for that! I am one of those that does not want one period.

*whew!*

:kick:

[JustAnotherGen]

33. I don't have a landline

Just a cellphone. Maybe it's my age and mobility . . . but the cost of a landline for someone who lives by themself and works 50-60 hours a week - it just doesn't make sense. That's a lot of money for nothing I'm ever going to be home to pick up. I went completely landline free a few years ago - when some fresh out of college folks I worked with heard I was moving and laughed at me for having both a landline and cell phone. Oy.

I hate to say it - but I'd love to own a couple of those payphones. Serious - there's a few places in my area that you do 'get day laborers' around that use them to make calls. There's always someone there making a phone call.


(Note - I work in the wireless industry - but I went wireless when I was in the VoIP biz).

[northzax]

49. heck, I haven't had a landline since 1997

when it was issued with my dorm room. I'm rarely home, why would I pay for telephone service to a place I am rarely at? (bad grammar, I know)

[CRF450]

51. I dont have a landline either.

Thankfully I live in a area where I get great signal, and if the power goes out I could still use the cellphone where as a regular cordless phone would be useless. I dont want to pay $100 a month just to stay in touch with other people, I'll pay half that with the better convenience factor thank you.:hi:

[pinniped]

37. Does this mean AT&T's deal with the .gov to eavesdrop on pay phones is terminated?

I doubt it.

These are the same bastards that ditched P-O-P-C-O-R-N.

[peacebuzzard]

38. I use skype and a cell. W/ skype you need cable internet.

works great. unlimited calling for 29 bucks a year for the skype.

Last time I used a landline was while traveling and staying in a hotel. It saved my cell minutes which I use strictly for emergency and necessary calls.